Stay Strong
by Ellietigerwolf
Summary: Okay so this is my first ever fanfic so please don't hate me if it's bad :) It's about the relationship between Jake and his dad and how the two constantly argue. After an awful argument between the two Jake disapears and pete must try to find Jake before it's too late... Sorry really bad at summeries :P xx rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Jake Brockman sat alone upstairs with his curtains drawn and his room in darkness. He was thinking about how he compared to his younger siblings Ben, who was eleven, and Karen who was eight. Jake often felt excluded, and although he never showed his emotions, especially to his parents Pete and Sue, he had become very unhappy and depressed. He felt as though he was not noticed or loved by his parents, and his relationship with his father especially had become very vague and estranged. This may have been a cause of his unnoticed depression, and although he was very happy at school underneath it all he was sad. He had become extremely popular and was in a band, and had even got lucky to have a sixteen year old girlfriend who was a year older than him. However his life at home with his family was a different story.

As he sat on his bed with his headphones in he heard the phone ring. His mum and Ben had gone out, but they should've been back by now; it was a late December Friday night. The phone continued to ring, and when he grew tired of listening to it he got up to answer it, which was something his neither father nor sister was going to do. He answered to the familiar voice of his mother:

"Hello?"

"Jake? Is that you?"

"Yeah, mum it's me. What's up, you sound worried?" Jake could sense the tone of anxiety in his mother's voice, and could hear her cracking up into tears.

"Oh, Jake! There's been an awful accident! I need you to tell dad to meet me at the hospital as soon as he can." Sue said in a rushed and upset tone.

"Woa, mum slow down! What's happened?" Jake asked sounding even more worried by the second.

"It's Ben. You remember when Karen was run down by a car, but she was alright? Well the same thing has happened to him only much, much worse!" She said, bursting into tears. "We were walking back to the car from parents' evening and he just stepped out into a car. He hit the windscreen and flew back onto the road and was unconscious. The ambulance came and I'm in hospital with him now but they're saying that he may not make it!"

Jake stood in silence for a moment, waiting for it to sink in. His brother was in hospital in a coma, possibly dying. He felt his eyes well up with tears, but he had to be strong. "Okay mum, just stay calm, I'll tell dad to come down as soon as possible. Do you want me and Karen to come?"

"No, I think it's best for you both to stay away, especially Karen."

"Okay. I'll tell him now."

"Thanks Jake." Sue said through sobs. She hung up. Jake stood there stunned. He wondered how he was going to tell Pete. Suddenly he felt his cheeks become wet as tears fell without him noticing. Slowly he trudged downstairs to see Pete in the hallway clearing things away.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you." Jake started through heavy breaths.

"Can't you see I'm busy Jake?" Pete said, his back turned.

"It's important!" Jake snapped. Pete turned around.

"Don't talk to me like that!" he said icily. "It'll have to wait." Something in Jake suddenly snapped, as he felt anger and hurt boil up inside him.

"Ben's in a bloody coma you selfish idiot!" he yelled. "He got hit by a car like Karen did last year, only he's in a much more life threatening condition, and the doctors don't know if he'll make it or not."

Pete stood there staring at his son, stunned. He was angry at Jake for yelling at him and for being so rude but then his words sunk in; 'Ben's in a bloody coma you selfish idiot!' "What?! Where's Sue?" Pete shouted.

"If you had just bloody well let me explain she's in the hospital and wants you to meet her as soon as possible!" Jake yelled back. He was furious now, and was also shaking with sadness, anger, fear and hurt. "If you had just paid attention to the fact that I was crying in front of you for the first time in years then maybe you would have known that something was wrong you stupid idiot!"

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Pete roared, towering over his eldest son. "You selfish brat, don't you dare twist this on me! Your brother is in hospital for god's sake! And all you care about is the fact that I don't care that you're upset!" Pete was shaking with anger, but he was also upset about hearing the news of Ben. "All you ever care about is yourself, and you know what Jake? I really don't give a damn about you being upset right now, I've got to go and see Ben."

Pete tried to push past Jake, but he stood his ground. He fought back angry tears, and stood there blocking his father's path. "You think this is about me? You think I only care about myself? You know what dad? I DON'T! I care about Ben a lot, okay? And it has nothing to with if you don't care that I'm upset or not, because I know that you really don't give a shit! I know you hate me, and I know that I don't compare to Ben and Karen but right now all I care about is Ben, alright?" Jake had never felt so angry and upset like this before, and he had never sworn like that in front of his dad before. He stood there in front of his dad, waiting for a response. Every desire to break down and cry had gone, now he was just livid and hurt by the fact that his father hated him so much.

"How dare you yell and swear at me like that." Pete said in an angry whisper. "How dare you, you selfish uncaring little shit."

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH YOU SELFISH MOTHER FUCKER?!" Jake screamed, no longer caring about what he did or said to his father. However, what came next shocked both of them. Pete raised his fist and punched Jake so hard in the face that he flew back into the wall and smashed his head hard against it. Jake stood there, stunned, as he put a hand to his bleeding nose, and slowly slid down the wall to the floor. His eye had gone black and his nose bled painfully. The back of his head had also been cracked from the impact of hitting the wall. He couldn't hold it back now. Jake silently started to cry as he backed himself into a corner in fear. He tucked his legs up and shank beneath Pete.

Pete stood there starring at his eldest son covered in blood. He no longer looked like a popular fifteen year old lad, but more like a frightened little boy. Pete couldn't believe himself. He would never hurt any of his children, ever. But now he saw Jake crying on the floor in the corner looking up at him with hurt and angry blue eyes. Pete would never be able to forgive himself. How could he hit Jake like that? Or even yell at him like he did? Pete walked over to Jake and knelt down beside him. He raised a hand to wipe away the blood but Jake flinched away. Suddenly he felt Jake's foot kick him extremely hard in the gut, and he fell backwards. He saw the boy flash past him and up the stairs. "Jake, wait!" he shouted trying to hold back his own tears. It was no use. His son had gone, and he was never going to win him back. He loved Jake so much, and yet he had just hurt him in such an unforgivable way. Pete sadly left the house and drove away to the hospital. He needed to meet Sue and see Ben.

Neither Pete nor Jake had noticed the little pair of eyes watching the entire argument that had just passed...

Jake lay on his bed in the darkness sobbing. How could his own father do this to him? He felt blood rapidly trickling down his face and onto the sheets and into his mouth. He felt sick and dizzy from where he had hit his head against the wall and could feel blood on the back of his head. Never had he felt so vulnerable and weak, and also embarrassed as he had just been floored by his own father and had simply broken down right before him like a child. So all he had questioned over the last couple of years had been true; his father really did hate him. Jake lay there in pain and despair, when suddenly he heard his bedroom door creak open...


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2:**_

Jake immediately sat up as a small beam of light filtered into his dark room. The door opened wider, until finally a small girl was revealed in the doorway. To his relief, Jake saw Karen standing there quietly looking frightened and upset. Confused, he gestured for her to come in, and she walked over and sat down on the bed.

"What's going to happen to Ben?" she asked timidly.

"I don't know." Jake replied through his best efforts not to cry again. Karen sniffed, and suddenly tears fell down her pale cheeks, and her mouth trembled slightly. Shocked, Jake pulled her into a tight hug and fought back his own tears. Of course, he was very upset about Ben, and felt physically sick with worry for his little brother, but the tears he was trying to fight were those that had been brought on by the abuse from his father. _No._ He thought. He had to be strong for Karen, and for Ben; not himself.

"Ben will be okay." Jake said hugging Karen tight. Karen nodded.

"Jake, that's not _just _what I'm worried about. I saw what happened between you and dad." She pointed at the blood all over his face. Jake sat there, unable to speak. Suddenly he began to shake and the tears finally fell once again. He felt so embarrassed and weak crying in front of his younger sister, but he was now uncontrollably shaking and silently sobbing.

"Karen...How much did you see?" He asked shakily.

"I saw you two swearing and shouting, and then I saw him hit you. I hid, but I heard a loud bang."

"I hit my head against the wall."

"Oh. Well then I saw him come up to you when you were on the ground but you gave him a massive kick and ran upstairs."

"I'm so sorry if we scared you." Jake said. "Please, _please _don't tell mum. I don't want her even more worried or upset, this is the last thing she needs to be told."

"But what about you?" Karen said, hugging Jake tighter. "You're always the one no one worries about! And what if he hurts you again?"

"He won't. I'm not going anywhere near him. And you know that's not true! Mum and dad do care..." But Jake knew that this was not what he really thought.

"Come on Jake, don't give me that crap. I heard what you and dad were arguing about."

Okay, I admit it. But please don't tell mum. Just trust me on this. And dad may want to attack me even more if he finds out I told."

"Okay, I trust you." Karen said, but she knew deep down that she would _have_ to tell mum.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3:**_

_**Okay, just quickly, I don't know much about any medical details, so if anything is medically incorrect about Ben, please don't hurt me! ;)**_

Pete sat in the in a waiting room in the hospital beside Sue, and apart from her there was no one else there with them. Sue had her head rested against his shoulder and she was crying and looked exhausted. Ben was in a coma, and he had suffered internal bleeding, several cracked ribs, a sprained wrist and many cuts and bruises. The doctors were doing all they could, but the atmosphere was extremely tense.

As soon as Pete had arrived, Sue had rushed over to him and told him everything between sobs. She thought it was all her fault, and that she 'should have been more careful!' She was saying how bad she was as a parent as this was the second time one of her children had been involved in a car accident. Pete had managed to calm her down slightly, but she still blamed herself and refused to see it in any other way.

Pete wondered how the hell he was going to tell Sue about Jake. This was the last thing she needed right now, but she needed to know. Pete felt so guilty and sick with what he had done; he remembered how Jake had smashed into the wall, blood dripping from his nose and his eye black and blue. He remembered the look of fear and horror in his blue eyes. He remembered how he had kicked him hard in the gut just to get away. How would he make it up to him? How would he tell Sue? How would he cope if Ben died and Jake refused to speak to him? He had to tell Sue, maybe she could help fix the broken relationship between the two. Taking a deep breath, he broke the deafening silence.

"Urm, Sue?" he started shakily.

"Hmm?" She replied, her voice sounding distant.

"There's something I need to tell you, and you're not going to like it. Before I left, me and Jake, well we had an argument. A big one."

"You and Jake always argue, I'm sure you'll both be fine tomorrow."

"Well, that's the thing Sue. When I said it was a big argument I meant what I said. He came downstairs to tell me about Ben, but I ignored him when he said he needed to talk. He reacted by becoming angry and I yelled at him. We ended up at each other's throats with swearing involved, but I suddenly flipped and, and... Look Sue, what I'm about to say next is going to hurt you, and trust me, it kills me."

"What are you talking about Pete?" Sue said in a worried whisper. "What do you mean 'I suddenly flipped'?"

"Sue, please, please don't freak out..."

"Just say what you want to say!" Sue said icily, with no idea what Pete was gabbling on about. It wasn't unusual for her eldest son and he husband to get into fights, but why did he choose to tell her about this one at such an awful time?

"Sue, I got extremely angry, and I hit Jake. I punched him full on and gave him a nose bleed and a black eye. I used so much force I sent him back into the wall where he hit his head which also started to bleed." Seeing his wife's shocked expression he immediately began to waffle again. "If I could take it back, I would, I swear! You know how much I love Jake and I would never normally hurt him, not ever! I feel awful Sue, and I don't know how to make it up to him, and-" But he was cut off by a sudden hard slap around the face.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?!" Sue suddenly screamed. "How can you not control your actions? He didn't do anything wrong you selfish arse!" Pete looked away in pain as he remembered exactly what his son and wife had said. "I can't believe you would ever do this to any of your children! Was he okay?"

Pete sat there, nearly at breaking point. "I don't know." He admitted. "He kicked me and then ran upstairs. I left after that. He looked pretty bad; I haven't seen him cry for years before today. And I didn't think I would hurt any of them like that before today."

"Well you had bloody well better make this up to him! And I won't blame him if he refuses to forgive you, and if that's the case then you're out Pete. You'll be out of the house before you can say anything to protest."

Pete nodded, he understood. If his son wouldn't forgive him then that would be his own fault, and he wouldn't blame him. And if he had to move out then he would face that consequence. H knew that's what he deserved. He never knew he could be so angry and abusive.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4:**_

Jake and Karen sat side by side on the bed; both had stopped crying but were still worried in their own heads. Jake was terrified for his little brother, and he didn't know what he think about his father anymore. Karen too was anxious and upset, for both her brothers now. She knew that she _had _to tell her mum, but how could she do that without getting her dad into trouble and upsetting Jake? She felt as though her family was already drifting apart. If Ben died, and her parents split up because of what Pete did, what would happen then? Her family would be completely destroyed. Despite all the chaos and stress of everyday life, she loved all her family to pieces. Every single one of them. Sure they all had their moments, her parents' constant nagging, Bens annoying and dangerous behaviour, Jake's grumpy mood swings, but she wouldn't swap any of them for anything. And in a way, she loved the constant chaos and bustling of her family, it completed them. If one of them were to disappear or die it would be like a missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. It just wouldn't be right...

Jake sat thinking. He knew Karen needed to be looked after right now, but there was someone he desperately needed to see. He needed to see his girlfriend, Victoria, who was a year older than him. The couple had met at a nightclub party, and both were very drunk at the time. Victoria had been a pole dancer, and Jake had thought she was beautiful and all his mates dared him to go up and talk to her. The two immediately became mesmerised by each other, and had kissed and swapped mobile numbers. However, Victoria had told Jake that she was nineteen; and Jake had told her that he was seventeen. After a few weeks they discovered their real ages which had been revealed by Jake's parents, and they continued their relationship as if nothing had happened. Over time they became extremely close, and had kissed many times, but hadn't gone _much_ further than that, but things had been attempted but they had always been interrupted.

Jake desperately wanted to see her now, but knew he couldn't.

"What's up Jake?" Karen asked, noticing his agitated mood.

"It's nothing Karen, don't worry."

"Oh come _on _Jake, clearly there is."

Jake hesitated for a moment, before replying. "Well, I was just thinking about Vicki, and wanted to go and see her, but I can't leave you."

"Yes you can. I can look after myself thank you." She said cheekily, with a smile. "You go. You could do with a break."

"Nah, mum and dad would kill me. Don't worry about it."

Jake, seriously, just go. It's fine, I can cope. Trust me."

"You sure?" Jake asked.

"YES!" Karen said. "You need it, Jake. I won't tell if you won't."

"Thank you." Jake said, kissing Karen's cheek.

"That's okay. Just go quick so you're back in time. Besides, no one can stop me from watching rude or horror films now!" Karen said with a grin. Jake just smiled. He couldn't remember a time like this when he had found time to bond with his sister.

Slowly, he left the house, still feeling guilty for leaving Karen alone. The chilled December night air hit him with an icy slap, and took the breath away from his lungs. He ran down the slippery and dark street, only lit by one single street light down the other end. It was unusually quiet; no cars or people could be seen or heard. Jake jogged through the streets of the quiet suburban area of London, and after fifteen minutes he reached Vicki's front door. She still lived with her parents, but once Jake turned eighteen the two were making plans to find a flat somewhere. Jake hoped that time would come quickly; he hated living with his father, especially after tonight.

Jake knew that Victoria's parents were out tonight, so he didn't need to think of some stupid story, or figure out how to explain why he was here at this time of night. He knocked on the front door, and when it opened he could smell the sweet scent or burning candles, and could feel the warmth and comfort of the house.

"Jake?" Victoria said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?" She said with a grin.

"I, urr, needed to talk to you." Jake said awkwardly.

"Urm, okay." She said sounding confused. She became a little worried when she noticed the guy's black eye and bloody and tear stained face. "What happened?" she asked gently, gesturing for him to come in.

Slowly, Jake entered the dimly lit warm house. Victoria shut the front door and turned to him.

"Jake, why have you been crying? And where did all the blood and bruises come from?" Jake just stared at her, unable to speak. Suddenly he broke down to tears, and she ran towards him and held him as he silently cried. She took him into the candle lit living room and drew back the curtain.

"Tell me what's wrong." She said soothingly. The whole story came out and she sat there in shock as she listened. Once he was done she gave him a tight hug.

"Oh, Jake." She said, holding back tears of her own which threatened to spill at any moment. The two of them sat huddled on the sofa, cradled in each other's arms. Jake felt safe now, and that was one thing. The two of them talked and kissed for a while, happy with each others' comfort. However, soon Jake needed to return home before his parents did, so the two said goodbye at the door as Jake trudged back through the icy and cold streets. He didn't know how he was going to face his father again, but at least this time he was more prepared...


	5. Chapter 5

**IMPORTANNT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

First of all I'd like to start off by saying for those of you who HAVE been reading 'Stay Strong', THANK YOU! Your reviews or even just you looking at my story makes me very happy and I'm so glad that you have taken the effort to read, even if you didn't enjoy.

However, I know that I haven't updated for a LONG time, so instead of giving you loads of excuses like: 'I've had a lot of homework recently' or 'My computer crashed', etc, which aren't true, and there is no excuse for me not updating in so long, I'm going to say that I will not be continuing with this version of this story.

BUT I will be continuing the exact same storyline, just with much better chapters as I feel that the ones I have posted are not as good as they could be. So within a few months I will delete this version and uploading a new one with the same plot.

Also, for those of you who may be interested, I will be writing a Fanfiction for my favourite film called 'Super 8' about my favourite character 'Cary' before I restart this one as I have had an author's block for this, and loads of inspiration and ideas for the 'Super 8' fic. I hate it when people don't update and pull out of stories, and this makes me sound like such a hypocrite, but:

Thank you so much for reading my story so far, and I really am sorry for letting you down like this, but I swear that I WILL do a better and more realistic version of this story in the future.

THANK YOU MY AWESOME FOLLOWS/READERS!

Xxx Ellietigerwolf xxx


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